January 4 – Utah Celebrates Statehood

Utah
has a place where the rocks look like drip sand castles – but giant
sand castles you can wander among!

Utah has a place where you can walk up a giant slab of rock, until you get to a giant bowl created from the rock, and when you look across that bowl you can see the landscape through a delicately balanced arch cut by natural forces from – you guessed it – rock.

Utah
has a place where water seeps through rock and drips down from cave
walls. It has a place where water has cut through sheer rock walls;
you can take a hike by walking through increasingly deep water,
closed in by increasingly close rock walls. It has a place where the
rocks seem to be carved into humpy checkered domes.

It
has a bunch of places where the rocks are red-red-red, and other
spots where the rocks are a mix of red and gold and white. It has
loads of places where the rocks are sculpted into crazy, whimsical,
or gorgeous shapes.

Utah
has a place where you drive a narrow road that is like a “spine”
between two drop-offs of gorgeous sheer cliffs of rock.

It has a
place where you drive through a loooooong tunnel, stunned by gorgeous
views every once in a while as you come to a window in the tunnel.

It
has places where a rainstorm can transform a gorgeous, dry rockscape
into what almost looks like a water park, with chutes and waterfalls
and white-water rivers. The next day, the landscape is back to being
bare rock, no water visible at all.

Utah
even has a place in which an artist arranged some rocks in a lake to
make a more interesting landscape. I give you Robert Smithson's
Spiral Jetty:

I
guess you can see that I really like rocks!

Utah
is state #45 out of 50, and it joined the U.S. on this date in 1896.

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This site is designed to be a source of interesting articles for kids and a resource for teachers and parents (especially homeschool teacher/parents!). From world holidays to historical anniversaries, Every Day Is Special celebrates each and every day.